Needs of Sperm Donors, Offspring at Odds
By Kay Miller
Star Tribune
Minneapolis – St. Paul
Last Updated: February 2, 2007
- The sperm bank industry is being challenged to catch up with growing demands for detailed information about donors as thousands of their offspring come of age.
- The article includes the following paragraph:
"Morrissette collected evocative essays from DI children, a sperm donor, even an infertile father in her 2006 book, " Behind Closed Doors: Moving Beyond Secrecy and Shame," (Be-Mondo Publishing, $12.95)"
The infertile father is me!
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A Sperm Donor has Waited for More than a Year to Become Part of His Kids Lives
Posted: 4:48pm Feb. 2, 2007
- An update of the Kansas Supreme Court case. In short this was the first day the Court could have issued its opinion. It did not do so and the next possible date a decision can be issued is March 16.
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Donor Offspring Find One Another
Star Tribune
Minneapolis - St. Paul
by Kay Miller
Last Updated: February 02, 2007 – 5:13 PM
- The mothers know that Donor 1047 has at least 23 offspring, possibly as many as 100.
The needs of the sperm donor are totally subservient to the needs of the children. In my view. In fact 'needs' of sperm donor deserves inverted commas - I suspect most donors are college kids looking for beer money. At least the two men I know who donated in their youth were like that - they simply did not think about what their actions meant and treated it all as a bit of a lark (and they're not stupid men - one is now a doctor who tells me he lives in fear of somehow being tracked down. I told him he had a moral obligation to register so any potential children could locate him. And the other is a highly successful journalist, and both his wife and I are trying to persuade him to register as willing to be known with the hospital where he donated).
ReplyDeleteI believe donors ought to be made to think about the consequences of their actions and if they are not willing to face those consequences they should not donate. I also believe that they should be willing to be known - and also that sperm banks should be legally obliged to check the dnnors medical history and backgrounds - not take the donors words for it. And if that means the supply of sperm dries up... so be it. Donor gametes are not like donated blood or hearts or livers; they are bound up in vital notions of identity. The child's right to know - or at least having the option to know - should be paramount.
But then I am a bit confused about this. I am quite ambivalent about sperm donation in general, even though I am carrying twins from a (willing to be known) sperm donor. I definitely put my need for a child first, knowing that I was denying my child/ren a father. I do feel bad about this, and I worry that the children will find it hard to forgive me for my choice.
As for the cost going up and the availability of sperm going down if anonymous donors are outlawed - so be it. That's just how it goes. The difference in anonymous and closed donors is only a couple of hundred dollars. THAT's ALL!!!!!
Katty,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with you more. I personally would support a ban on anonymous donations even if it means less donors will be available. I admire any parent of DI conceived children who is open and honest about it. Their children will appreciate them more.